Copenhagen ranked 'World’s Most Livable City'

Copenhagen's creative environment, its relaxed lifestyle, cycle culture, democratic design and the active use of city spaces are among the key reasons why Copenhagen is, once again, the world's best city according to British lifestyle magazine, Monocle.

Copenhagen has been ranked the No.1 city in the world to live in for the second time on Monocle magazine’s “Most Livable Cities Index". Safety, tolerance, green initiatives and international connectivity were just some of the criteria used to decide the winning city.

Copenhagen's creative environment, its relaxed lifestyle, cycle culture, democratic design and the active use of city spaces are among the key reasons why Copenhagen is, once again, the world's best city according to British lifestyle magazine, Monocle.

Other contributing factors include the good business conditions, the ease of access and the fact that you can travel quickly and safely within the city, as well as Copenhageners' use of their urban spaces - not just in terms of their bike use, but the way they make the most of every ray of sunshine with their pavement cafes and parks. It is easy to access green and recreational areas in Copenhagen.

Monocle also notes that Copenhageners are proud of their city, and with good reason. As the magazine's Copenhagen correspondent Michael Booth writes, Copenhagen has become a more open city in recent years, both literally because the city's shops have extended their opening hours, but also figuratively in the residents' greater tolerance of ethnic minorities and the gay community.

Monocle published its first “Most Livable Cities Index" in 2007 and this is the second time that Copenhagen has been in first place. The last occasion was in 2008 and, since then, the Danish capital has been in second place two times and last year it came third, with Helsinki and Zurich ahead in first and second places.

"This is a great recognition of Copenhagen. It strengthens the city's international position as a place where life quality, gastronomy, design, architecture, sustainability and democratic values are in focus," says Lars Bernhard Jorgensen, managing director of Wonderful Copenhagen CVB.

You must be kidding! I am from Copenhagen and I wish I could be proud and say that my city is the most livable and nice in the world but unfortunately it is far from that far from what Copenhagen used to be in 90s. Today a lot of the city center is in construction, especially with the extension of the Metro( unnecessary if you ask me, the city already has a good transport system and its not growing). Old, nice buildings like the Scala complex right across from Tivoli, in the city center which was a vibrant center with restaurants, shops, gym, cinemas was demolished recently after only 20 years of life in order to built a law firm....Old nice architecture is demolished to be replaced by some tasteless glass and steel constructions(see Industrienes hus in Raadhuspladsen). A lot of old, iconic night clubs have closed, the city nightlife is a shadow of what it used to be in the 80s and 90s. About safety, its a joke as well, a lot of gang related shootings, not everyday occurrence and not something entirely new but much more prevalent than before. And climate/sunshine...you make me laugh, yes there are sunshine days and when that happens the climate is great, neither too hot or too windy, but the problem is that there aren't many of those days during the year. May used to be the perfect month in Denmark with a lot of sunshine but this year it was a disappointment. Yes, the extensive bicycle network is a nice and quite unique feature but hardly something that will make a huge difference in the livability of a city. So Copenhagen number 1...I very much doubt. there are a lot of other nicer cities of the same size, Stockholm, Liverpool( used to be rundown a few years ago but today it looks great), Edinburgh, Sydney, Amsterdam. Copenhagen was nice in the 80s and 90s and it will probably look better in a few years time but right now... is a bit of a disappointment.